


Light A Roman Candle With Me

by PennamePersona



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: 3 years in the future, Confessions, Fireworks, Fluff, Fourth of July, Internal Thoughts, M/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 10:18:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4603053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PennamePersona/pseuds/PennamePersona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is Will's last summer at Camp Half-Blood, and this will be his last time watching the fireworks display as a camper. He's not thinking about that, not so much as he's thinking about Nico, about his friend, about what's between them. </p><p>Set 3 years after The Blood of Olympus. </p><p>Inspired by the song "Light A Roman Candle With Me" by Fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light A Roman Candle With Me

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by "Light A Roman Candle With Me" by Fun., which is where the title and some of the lines of the fic come from. This, to me, makes this a songfic, though it isn't exactly a traditional one. 
> 
> Also, this fic is set in the future, when Will is 18 and Nico is 17.

It's evening, and Will feels ridiculous.

It's evening, it's the Fourth of July, the fireworks are due to start at any moment, and Will is overcome by how _ludicrous_ this is, how absolutely, positively ridiculous this all feels.

It was so much easier last year.

Last year, it was all still growing, all still developing in the spaces between, and it's managed to continue that way until so recently, until it finally started to be too heavy to be light anymore, until it weighed on him instead of lifting him off into the sky.

Last year, he'd dragged Nico by the wrist, grip loose enough to be easily escaped, but still so obviously there. He'd guided them down to where the edge of the forest met the edge of the lake, which wasn't a perfect spot for watching the fireworks, but was far enough away that neither of them would feel crowded, though still close enough to be part of the group of campers.

They'd teased each other back and forth until, somehow, one annoyance piled on top of the rest and they'd ended up on the ground, Nico atop Will and keeping him pinned to the ground, and Will still doesn't doubt that Nico could have prevented him from ever standing up if he'd really wanted, but instead he'd laughed breathily and Will had called him an idiot to which Nico responded that Will was obviously the bigger idiot for enjoying the company of an idiot so much and Will had conceded this point and sworn Nico to secrecy on the matter of the head counselor of the Apollo cabin and one of the senior healers of the camp being a complete and utter idiot and Nico had grinned in this stupid, awful, wonderful way and the whole night had been absolutely perfect.

And now, a year later, that stupid, awful, wonderful feeling isn't gone, has been so fantastic, and had finally seemed to be leading up to more, maybe, until something had changed.

Will doesn't think it's only him. He knows Nico well by now, they're close (Nico might be his best friend, and he doesn't know how exactly Nico ranks him but he does know that they're close and that Nico trusts him and that he's payed enough attention to pick up on small things and notice details), and he _knows_ that this change isn't just him.

Maybe they're both thinking too much, or maybe they've both finally started thinking and it's a good thing. Will doesn't know, can't be sure, not about this.

What he does know is: Tonight, he feels absolutely ridiculous.

He doesn't know where Nico is. They didn't really make plans to watch the fireworks together, didn't even really talk about it, and usually, that wouldn't mean a thing. It wouldn't matter that they hadn't talked about it, because Nico would have shown up at the Apollo cabin and waited for Will to meet him and he wouldn't have had to wait even a minute because Will would already be changed into casual clothes, expecting Nico to be there without really consciously realizing it at all, and they would have walked down to where the edge of the lake meets the edge of the forest and sat together, just far enough away from the others so that they could talk or not talk all they wanted just with each other, but close enough that they could look around and see other friends. Nico would have looked stupidly perfect in his terrible-for-the-temperature black jeans and a clean black shirt that hangs off of him just right, just so that Will could see his collarbone and think what a gorgeous mess this boy is -

But instead, it's only a handful of minutes before the fireworks start, and Will is pulling at his hair, terrified of walking down to where the edge of the lake and the edge of the forest meet because he can see it from here and _Nico isn't there_ and what if that means Nico has been thinking about this and he's decided it's all going wrong and everything stupid and awful and wonderful will end just like his last year at Camp Half-Blood is going to end and they haven't talked about that, either, even though they really should

And the thought Will has right then is one that's been popping up in his head for weeks now and he shoves it away every single time because he can't quite bring himself to say it to Nico, but he's been wanting to say it so badly, he just doesn't know how it's going to connect with everything else and his chest hurts so badly right now, it just does.

"The university at Camp Jupiter has a good medical program," Will says, quietly, to no one at all.

"Yeah, so I've heard."

Will nearly jumps out of his skin at the unexpectedness of that voice coming from behind him.

"Nico?" He asks, in astonishment that he hopes won't be strange. He turns around and sees him, in those stupid jeans and awful shirt and wonderful, casual look, that doesn't quite manage to be completely casual because he's got the same something in his eyes that Will feels in his stomach.

"The fireworks are going to start soon." Nico says, walking to exactly where Will is and pausing for just a fraction of a moment, just enough for Will to notice it and wonder what it is, before continuing on. Will doesn't follow him. He walks up exactly next to him, and they both go to where the edge of the lake meets the edge of the forest without saying another word and without bumping into each other, like they're not even thinking about it, just knowing.

It's been three years. Will is eighteen, and Nico will turn eighteen in January. It's been three years, and they're close, and Will has known that he found Nico aesthetically attractive since forever, and he's known that Nico seemed interesting since ages ago, and he's known that Nico is stupid and awful and wonderful since three years ago when he could have kicked his ass on top of Half-Blood Hill, surrounded by Romans, and then realized that same thing when he could have dragged him by his stupid ear into the infirmary so he'd just _rest_ for once.

He hasn't yet stopped knowing that Nico looks good or that he's interesting, and he just keeps realizing that Nico is stupid and awful and wonderful in the strangest ways, and he's wondering right now if it's Nico that's stupid and awful and wonderful, or if it's this thing between them, this relationship they have, this everything that they've compiled together and now are considering. He wonders if it even matters at all.

"Why were you talking to yourself about the medical program at Camp Jupiter's university?" Nico asks, once they're sitting and staring at the sky and noticing the exact distance between their fingertips far, far too much.

"I..." Will looks up at the stars, aware of the people who are just far enough away not to hear him, and just close enough to remind him that he's not alone, that _they're_ not alone. "I want to be a doctor."

"I know," Nico says, because he does. One night, in Hades cabin, when Will snuck in after curfew because he was keyed up from doing too much that day, from not resting and running about and being absolutely full of nervous energy, they stayed up until 3 AM talking on the floor next to Nico's bed. It's still one of Will's favorite memories. He'd talked about how he wanted to do something, had held his hands up and looked at them and said "these are a healer's hands, they've always been a healer's hands, and I have to keep making them that because if I don't, what else will I do?" and Nico had looked over at him and touched one of his hands lightly and said "they're shaking" and Will had said "that's because I'm still too scared by it all."

"So I'm going to Camp Jupiter at the end of the summer." Will says. "I'm going to enroll in the medical program. At least for now. Maybe I'll start there and then go somewhere else, somewhere in the mortal world. But I'd like to go somewhere different, somewhere that'll throw me out of my comfort zone, and still have it feel safe and familiar enough. I mean, starting medical school _and_ trying to properly fit into the mortal world? Do _not_ sign me up."

It almost felt, at the start of that, like he was saying too much. But this is Nico, and this is how he and Nico talk. He wants to smile over at him, to feel lightness all over again, like he's been feeling for so long now, but instead, he glances at Nico and pulls his mouth into a hesitant smile and his chest feels heavy.

Nico pulls his knees up and sets his chin on them. He looks thoughtful, and Will can't help but notice how interestingly _good_ he looks like that, arms around his legs and contemplative, serious and pulled in on himself, but not like there's a haze of darkness around him - like he's a seventeen-year-old guy thinking terribly serious thoughts about a future that isn't all life-and-death.

"I'm going to Camp Jupiter, too." Nico says. "Hazel's staying for college, and Jason and Piper and Percy and Annabeth are already there, and. Well. I thought I might try out college, see how it goes. I haven't exactly had the best formal education."

He looks at Will, and Will's bones ache.

"You could do it," Will says, and he believes it. "How hard could it possibly be? And you'll have help."

 _I'll help you_ , he doesn't say, because that's not really what this is about. Their worlds don't revolve around each other - it's better than that. They touch and they meet and there are overlaps, but there's more to life than Nico, for Will, even if Nico is such a hugely, stupidly, awfully wonderful part of it.

Nico licks his lips. Will notices.

Fireworks go off, a bit late, but no less fantastic.

They sit, spread out more, and watch. Nico lets go of his legs and their fingertips overlap, just barely, and they both hardly think about it.

"Roman candles," Will says, once the gorgeous and complex display calms down to a popping and showering of colored lights. "That's what this kind is called. I had a Hephaestus kid in the infirmary earlier, and she was talking about how they were going to end the display with Roman candles. I never really thought about these having a name before that."

"Me neither," Nico says. "Not that I spent much time contemplating fireworks."

"Shut up," Will says, grinning and lightly shoving Nico's shoulder. Nico smiles back, and it feels easy and light again, in that moment.

"I'm terrified," Will blurts out, and automatically curses himself. He didn't quite mean to really say that, but sometimes it's hard not to just say exactly what he's thinking to Nico.

"Of what?" Nico asks. Will looks down at their hands, which are right next to each other on the ground.

He pulls up Nico's hand and laces their fingers together.

"Of this." He says, wondering what it is that Nico sees on his face, only feeling that it must be nothing but every raw emotion he's currently experiencing, not that he's even sure he could name them all properly.

"Me too." Nico says, and the pressure on Will's hand increases.

"But I want it anyway," Will says. "Or maybe I want it _because_ I'm terrified. I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to think around you. Or about you. Or just. At all."

"I didn't know if I should come by your cabin tonight," Nico says, sounding just as raw as Will. "I...it just seemed so...like, it isn't as easy as it was."

"I know!" Will says, laughing because he's not crying, but not because it's funny. "I know it isn't! And I don't know if that's good, or that's bad, and I swear I used to be so much more in control of this!"

"Maybe it's not so bad that you're not," Nico says. "That we're not. Maybe..."

He looks at Will's lips, then deep into his eyes.

"I want to kiss you, Will. I've wanted to kiss you for a while now, and I don't know why I haven't said anything yet. I don't want to kiss you and have that mean that you're the center of my universe, because you're not. Every time I see my friends get together, it's like they lose some part of themselves, like they force their thoughts into orbiting around one other person. I don't like that. That's not...that's not how it's been, with you. You aren't the center of my universe, but I know you're there. You're like. Not the stars, but the way they shine."

"Oh wow," Will says, with something of a smirk and everything of a teasing tone. "I had no idea you could be _so_ romantic."

"Shut up, you jerk," Nico says. "That was beautiful, and you respond with jokes?"

"It was beautiful!" Will agrees. "One of the best things I've heard. And I agree. I like what we have, I honestly do. And I want more of it. I've wanted to kiss you for I don't know how long, and it's driving me to distraction right now. I swear I want to talk, because we should, we should definitely talk, talking is a great idea, getting things out in the open, but also I really really really want to kiss you can I kiss you, please, Nico, can I - "

"Yes," Nico says, but he doesn't actually follow up on that because _he_ kisses Will instead of Will kissing him. Not that Will has it in him to argue semantics right now. He might, if he weren't busy feeling Nico's lips on his, but wow, he is _really_ busy feeling Nico's lips on his and _tasting_ Nico, yeah, definitely not talking right now, nope, lips are a bit busy doing something _way_ better.

"We should do this more," Will says, once they separate, breathless. "And we should date. When we go to New Rome, I mean. We should go on dates and do the couple thing and see how it works. And kiss, like, a lot."

"Like, a lot?" Nico raises an eyebrow. "Really eloquent of you. I see I'm going to be the wordsmith in this relationship."

"Shut it," Will says, still not recovered, and knowing that Nico isn't either.

"We should, though." Nico says, after a while, agreement in his tone. "Date. All of that."

"Yeah," Will says, then leans forward to rest his forehead on Nico's. "I really, really like you, Nico di Angelo."

"I really, really like you, too, Will Solace," Nico says, bring a hand up to curl into Will's hair, holding them both together.

There is one more pop and crackle, and then the fireworks are over.

"You know, I really meant to pay more attention to the show." Will remarks, not moving an inch. "It's the last fireworks display I'll get to see as a camper."

"I'm sure you'll be able to live with this instead." Nico says, also not moving at all.

"Oh, definitely. Kissing you was fantastic." Will says, amazed for a moment at how easy it is to actually say that out loud.

"Eh," Nico says. "You could have done better."

Will laughs, actually laughs, and it's as much a release of all his nervousness as it is an expression of actual humor.

"I wasn't really focused on the method of it the first time," He says, grinning. "Do over?"

"Oh, no." Nico says, very seriously. "The first time definitely counts. But you can try and improve on it, if you want."

"Oh, I want." Will says, smiling. Nico is smiling back at him, and he feels ridiculously happy, light, and kind of like he's a roman candle.

 _This is stupid_ , Will thinks, as they lay down on the grass and kiss, like the stupid and in love teenage boys that they are. _And awful. And wonderful._

And it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you liked the fic, and of course, kudos and comments are very much appreciated. 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at: pennamepersona.tumblr.com
> 
> Feel free to send an ask there, if you wish, whether it's about this fic, one of my other fics, this pairing, thoughts in general, or a question as to why I have animosity for the word inflammable.
> 
> [Buy me a coffee!](https://ko-fi.com/A375K8Q)


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